Redpath Praises Man of Match Cipriani

Sale Sharks' Director of Rugby Bryan Redpath was thrilled with the impact made by his club's replacement fly half Danny Cipriani during the club's 34-33 win against Cardiff Blues.

It was great to see him perform like that

"It was great to see him perform like that and hopefully it will give us a huge confidence boost," he said. "Hopefully Danny and the team can kick on from that.

"His attacking flair has never been in question, but he had three great kicks for field position and he made his tackles when he needed to, and that was just as important."

Redpath admitted today's nerve-tingling victory came as a "huge relief".

"We've been on the wrong end of recent results," he said. "We created two great chances in the first 25 minutes but in the next 15 minutes we conceded three soft tries, and suddenly we're thinking deja vu.

"I said to the players at half-time we were staring down the barrel of a gun. We had to go out with the right mindset to win the game.

"It's been a tough six weeks. We've taken a lot of flak, quite rightly so in many ways, but hopefully we can turn the corner. The next two games are huge for us."

"It's something we've been longing for," added Cipriani. "We had to give the fans something to cheer about and we did.

"I enjoyed it. It was good fun. I think the boys were playing pretty well before I came on so it was seamless to fit in there."

"Every player wants to have game time," Cipriani continued. "I've just got to fit in with what the coach wants and needs. I'm new into a team.

"Obviously I want to start. Mac (Nick Macleod) is a long servant for the club and he's a great player.

"He wants that jersey but, if you've got two 10s going for it and both playing well, that's better for the team. I've got to keep working at it and hopefully I'll get a start next week."

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Sale boss Steve Diamond believes that some good old-fashioned home comforts can help drive the Sharks to a second successive top-six Premiership finish this season.

As England host the Rugby World Cup, the multi million selling soprano, Laura Wright, who is known to millions as the official anthem singer of the England Rugby Team will be getting behind all things rugby this February, continuing her support for the RFU's All Schools rugby campaign.